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Health and Safety
What is it Health and Safety is the Hive-wide authority in charge of protecting citizens' security and well-being. I comprises both law enforcement, and medical services, and the branches cooperate closely. They are at the beck and call of Telepath Units, who belong to Law Enforcement - whenever a target is taken down, or a victim identified, Liaison will dispatch teams of either hasties or medics. Most of the time, these services function with great professionalism and efficiency. Perilous, the prequel novella, shows what happens when they get overwhelmed by a major catastrophe, but also how well they work under normal circumstances: Amber is hurt and taken to a medical facility on a different level of the Hive, where she gets perfectly adequate and courteous treatment. Her medic gets arrested by a team of hasties with a Nosy (later revealed to have been Buzz), so in that situation both branches of Health and Safety intersect. Presumbly the Emergency Wardens on all levels, such as Atticus in Perilous, are also trained by Health and Safety. There are elaborate emergency plans for such situations as the blackout. The targets that the Telepath Units arrest are evaluated and treated by specialised forensic psychologists working for Health and Safety, often borderline telepaths themselves, with the overriding objective of making the culprit a productive member of the hive once again. The approach to delinquents is highly pragmatic rather than punitive. Salvaging a target is usually achieved by erasing the memories of their crimes and giving them therapy. Victims' memories too are purged of traumatic events. Buzz was working in that area of law enforcement before being transferred to Amber's unit. Law enforcement uniforms are blue, while Emergency Services have striped blue-red uniforms. Law Enforcement Hasties The personnel of law enforcement are called Hasties by the Hive population. They are mostly concerned with warning children away from dangers, catching trespassers, and similar routine activities. Since the people believe the Hive is a safe place without crime, being a hasty is not particularly prestigious. Crimes are routinely covered up as accidents, to prevent imitation, and when that is not possible, as the hostile action of agents from some other Hive. Law Enforcement has a level of its own, Level Twenty, where personnel of high and low rank reside. The only exception are the Telepath Units, which are located on Industry 1, the highest level of the Hive, in order to give the telepaths space. Telepath Units are the most prestigious units within Law Enforcement, and they freely draw on all the resources of the entire service. Law Enforcement personnel are not allowed to marry outside their own ranks. Being allocated to Law Enforcement by Lottery is viewed as problematic by many families, and relationships with the birth family often break down as a result. Law Enforcement staff is imprinted with important secrets that the rest of the Hive cannot be allowed to learn, such as the fact that Nosies are fake, and the existence of telepaths and their units. To safeguard these secrets, the teens from law enforcement families are located together in special areas even on teen level. Nosies To prevent crime, Law Enforcement pretends that the Hive has many telepaths, commonly called Nosies, who can detect criminal thoughts and intentions, and who regularly walk all over the Hive to ferret out any misdeeds. However, these nosies are usually ordinary hasties dressed up in masks with purple eyes and grey costumes to look scary. On special occasions, a borderline telepath like Buzz will play the role. Nosies are usually accompanied by four hasties in the blue uniform of Law Enforcement. Most people hate the thought of Nosies reading their thoughts, innocent or not, and will try to prevent the mental intrusion by shouting out mulitplication tables. They will also try to get away from Nosies as quickly as possible. Amber's parents dislike and fear Nosies, and so did she until she came to terms with being a telepath herself. References Category:Hive World